Severus Talks - Severus Snape (COMPLETE)

The Fall

There was a sense of impending doom lingering about the castle, or so Severus felt. Of course, it could be because of the minor fact that he'd been asked to kill Dumbledore by the very man himself. Or because Voldemort was amassing more forces. Either way, it wasn't looking good.

The one positive of the whole rotten year was that he'd finally been given the DADA post. Whether or not Dumbledore thought he'd last the year, Severus did not know. He didn't even feel particularly grateful for receiving the post after so long. After all, he'd done his waiting. Fifteen years of it. In Hogwarts, of all places.

Was he thankful for any of it?

Dumbledore had saved him from the law which should rightly have imprisoned him in Azkaban. He had saved him from his own dark reputation. He had saved his life.... countless times. But he hadn't saved Lily.

And Lily was, after all, why he kept going after all these years. Looking into Harry James Potter's green eyes day after day, he saw Lily. Saw her eyes, those perfect almonds of green. And he remembered that he had to save the one last, living part of her, her son. Raise the unruly boy like a cattle for slaughter. A child that would sacrifice itself, one, for billions. 

*

The year passed in a blur, he found. All he could remember was the word.

"Please."

Severus would forever rue that day, that moment, that incantation. Luckily, for him, forever wasn't a long time. Forever would be less than a year and then forever would start all over again, with Lily. Where perhaps he would make a different choice. Join the Order before the Death Eaters, say Muggleborn, or nothing at all, instead of Mudblood. There were a myriad of decisions he should have avoided.

*

The Dark Lord had been entirely unsurprised. He had never expected Draco to get far with his mission to kill Albus Dumbledore. He had, however, expected Severus to take over if Draco hadn't the guts. Severus Snape was his most trusted, more diligent, most loyal follower. Adding to the fact that Draco Malfoy was the dour professor's godson... Dumbledore had always been meant to die at the hands of his protégé. The irony was just too great. The genius codger murdered by a genius who happened to be smarter than the smartest genius.

He sent Bellatrix to bring the very man in, and when Severus was opposite him, smiled benignly at him. The similarity to Dumbledore was uncanny.

"Ah, Severus, I have a special job for you to do."

He searched the young man's eyes for any emotions, and found none, like usual. Satisfied, he continued.

"You, my dear friend, are to be the next Headmaster of Hogwarts."

*****

A.N. Severus' time is coming to a close. There'll be three more chapters after this.

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